To get admitted to a monastery, first one must find a resident teacher whose role is like a guide and a caretaker. After being accepted by a college or a khangtsen and if a resident teacher is found, he would then be taken to the monastery’s office for admission. After filling the admission form, his acceptance would be marked by a roll number given on his ID.
At present, we have a total of 1600 monks, and this also includes all the ordinary monks, geshes and tulkus who usually live outside the monastery in different parts of the world.
Sera Mey Monastery provides free food and monastic education. The admission is open for anyone who wishes to study here as a monk.
Sera Mey has 16 houses. Traditionally, monks in Tibet joined a college to which they belong, which is determined by their regional origin. However, nowadays it is more of a personal choice and there isn’t any strict allegiance to the past practice, although most would still join colleges to which they would traditionally belong.
The sixteen colleges or khangtsens of Sera Mey that existed in the past Tibet are:
- Shungpa Khangtsen
- Pobhor Khangtsen
- Tsawa Khangtsen
- Yerpa Khangtsen
- Kongpo Khangtsen
- Mar-Nyung Khangtsen
- Tsador Khangtsen
- Thepo Khangtsen
- Tsangpa Khangtsen
- Gungru Khangtsen
- Rongpo Khangtsen
- Minyag Khangtsen
- Gyalrong Khangtsen
- Tawon Khangtsen
- Powo Khangtsen
- Ara Khangtsen
Except Tawon, Powo and Ara, all other 13 houses of Sera Mey are re-established in exile. The houses take care of the accommodation and other basic needs of the monks. Each house has its own prayer hall, hostels, a common kitchen, a house-master and a treasurer etc. The houses hold their own prayer sessions from offerings received from their own sources.
